Kettle that automatically opens the spout cap when tilted to pour out water

ABSTRACT

A kettle includes a kettle body, which has a spout and a support frame, a spout cap pivoted to the support frame, a handle fixedly mounted on the kettle body, a sliding grip coupled to the handle, a link coupled between the sliding grip and the spout cap, and a spring supported between the support frame and the front end of the link, such that when the user holds the sliding grip to tilt the kettle body, the sliding grip is moved relative to the handle to push the link forwards and to further open the spout cap and twist the spring; when the user returns the kettle to horizontal and releases the hand from the sliding grip, the spring automatically returns the sliding grip, causing the spout cap to close the spout again.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to kettles and more particularly, to such a kettle, which automatically opens the spout when it is tilted to pour out water and, which automatically closes the spout when it is returned to horizontal.

2. Description of the Related Art

A kettle generally has a spout through which contained water is poured out of the kettle body into a cup for drinking. Further, a kettle generally has a spout cap for closing the spout. Before pouring water out of the kettle, the spout cap is opened from the spout. In early kettle designs, the user must open and close the spout cap with the fingers. When opening the spout cap, the hand may be injured by the rushing flow of steam accidentally. The inventor of the present invention created many safety designs that eliminate the aforesaid problem. These inventions, as shown in Taiwan Utility Nos. 89207500; 92201289; 92218745, have different structural designs, however they achieve the same effect of automatically opening the spout cap when the kettle is tilted to pour out water and automatically closing the spout cap when the kettle is returned to horizontal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a kettle, which has an automatic spout cap lifting mechanism that automatically opens the spout cap when the kettle is tilted to pour out water, and automatically closes the spout cap when the kettle is returned to horizontal.

To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the kettle comprises a kettle body comprises a kettle body, the kettle body having a spout and a support frame; a spout cap pivoted to the support frame and biasable relative to the support frame to close/open the spout; a kettle handle fixedly fastened to the kettle body; a sliding grip coupled to and movable along the kettle handle; a link movably supported on the kettle handle, the link having a rear end connected to one end of the sliding grip and a front end pivoted to one end of the spout cap; and a spring means installed in the support frame and supported between the support frame and the front end of the link to impart a spring force to the spout cap to hold the spout cap in the position closing the spout.

Further, the support frame is fixedly mounted on the periphery of the spout at one side.

Further, the kettle handle has at least one elongated slot. The sliding grip comprises a bottom grip shell disposed at the bottom side of the kettle handle, a top grip shell disposed at the top side of the kettle handle opposite to the bottom grip shell, and pivot means inserted through the at least one elongated slot of the kettle handle and connected between the top grip shell and the bottom grip shell to secure the top grip shell and the bottom grip shell to the kettle handle and to allow sliding movement of the top grip shell and the bottom grip shell relative to the kettle handle.

Further, the top grip shell of the sliding grip has a retaining hole on the front end thereof. The link has a retaining lug extended from the rear end thereof and fastened to the retaining hole of the top grip shell for synchronous movement with the sliding grip.

Further, the bottom grip shell has at least one countersunk hole. The top grip shell comprises at least one screw hole corresponding to the at least one countersunk hole of the bottom grip shell. The pivot means comprises at least one screw respectively inserted through the at least one countersunk hole of the bottom grip shell and the at least one elongated slot of the kettle handle and respectively threaded into the at least one screw hole of the top grip shell.

Further, the support frame has a pivot member mounted therein. The front end of the link is inserted into the support frame, having a through hole coupled to the pivot in the support frame.

Further, the support frame has two pivot holes disposed at two opposite lateral sides and aligned in line. The spout cap has a spout cap handle and a pivot member. The spout cap handle has two through holes. The pivot member of the spout cap is inserted through the pivot holes of the support frame and affixed to the two through holes of the spout cap handle to pivotally secure the spout cap handle to the support frame.

Further, the spring means is a torsion spring. The torsion spring has a coiled spring body sleeved onto the pivot member in the spout cap handle of the spout cap, and two bearing arms respectively extended from two opposite ends of the coiled spring body and respectively supported on the support frame and the front end of the link.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a kettle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the kettle according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the present invention, showing the spout cap closed.

FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3, showing the spout cap opened.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1˜3, a kettle 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising a kettle body 20, which has a spout 21, a kettle cover 30 for closing the top opening (not shown) of the kettle body 20, and a spout cap 40 for closing the spout 21. After removal of the kettle cover 30 from the kettle body 20, water is filled through the top opening into the kettle body 20 for boiling. Further, boiled water is poured out of the kettle body 20 through the spout 21 into a cup or tea maker for service after removal of the spout cap 40 from the spout 21.

The spout cap 40 has a handle 41 pivotally connected to a support frame 22 by a fastening member 45, for example, a rivet or pin. Therefore, the spout cap 40 is openably secured to the spout 21. The support frame 22 may be fixedly fastened to the outside wall of the spout 21 or the kettle body 20. According to this embodiment, the support frame 22 is welded to the outside wall of the spout 21. The support frame 22 is inserted into the handle 41 of the spout cap 40 between two side through holes 43 of the handle 41, having a pivot hole 23 on each of the two opposite lateral sidewalls thereof. The fastening member 45 is inserted through the side through holes 43 of the handle 41 and the pivot holes 23 of the support frame 22 and fastened to the handle 41 to pivotally secure the spout cap 40 to the support frame 22.

The kettle 10 further comprises a kettle handle 50. Stamping a metal strip into an arc forms the kettle handle 50. The kettle handle 50 has a first end 51 and a second end 52 for welding to the outside wall of the kettle body 20 to fixedly secure the kettle handle 50 to the top side of the kettle body 20 for carrying by hand and for supporting a sliding grip 60 (this will be described further). Alternatively, the kettle handle 50 can be made having one end fixedly fastened to the kettle body 20 and the other end suspending above the kettle body 20. Further, the kettle handle 50 has at least one, for example, two elongated slots 53 adapted to limit the moving distance of the sliding grip 60 relative to the kettle handle 50.

The sliding grip 60 comprises a bottom grip shell 61 disposed at the bottom side of the kettle handle 50, and a top grip shell 62 disposed at the top side of the kettle handle 50 and abutted against the bottom grip shell 61. The bottom grip shell 61 has two countersunk holes 63. The top grip shell 62 has two screw holes 64 corresponding to the countersunk holes 63. Two screws 66 are respectively inserted through the countersunk holes 63 of the bottom grip shell 61 and the elongated slots 53 of the kettle handle 50 and then respectively threaded into the screw holes 64 of the top grip shell 62 to fixedly fasten the bottom grip shell 61 and the top grip shell 62 together, thereby forming the sliding grip 60 on the kettle handle 50. Further, rivets or pins may be used to fixedly fasten the bottom grip shell 61 and the top grip shell 62 together instead of the screws 66. The top grip shell 62 further has a retaining hole 65 near the front end (the purpose of this retaining hole 65 will be described latter). The sliding grip 60 has a length about one half of the length of the kettle handle 50, and is mounted on the rear half of the kettle handle 50, leaving the front half of the kettle handle 50 for supporting a link 70.

The aforesaid link 70 is adapted to connect the sliding grip 60 and the spout cap 40. The link 70 has two opposite ends. The rear end of the link 70 is terminating in an upwardly extending lug 71, which is fastened to the retaining hole 65 of the top grip shell 62 so that the link 70 is connected to and movable with the sliding grip 60. Of course, the link 70 can be fastened to the sliding grip 60 by any of a variety of other designs. The front end of the link 70 is inserted into the handle 41 of the spout cap 40, having a pivot hole 72. A fastening member, for example, rivet or pin is inserted through two side through holes 42 of the handle 41 and the pivot hole 72 of the link 70 to pivotally secure the spout cap 40 to the link 70. According to the present preferred embodiment, the aforesaid fastening members 45 and 75 are rivets.

Further, a return spring, for example, torsion spring 80 is provided for automatically returning the spout cap 40, the link 70 and the sliding grip 60. The torsion spring 80 has a coiled spring body 81 sleeved onto the fastening member 45, a first bearing arm 82 and a second bearing arm 83 respectively supported on the support frame 22 and the front end of the link 70. The spring power of the torsion spring 80 holds the spout cap 40 in the close position to close the spout 21.

Referring to FIG. 4, when tilting the kettle 10 to pour water out of the kettle body 20 either the kettle 10 is kept supported on the desk or lifted from the desk, the spout cap 40 is automatically opened. When tilting the kettle 10 to lower the spout 21, the center of gravity of the kettle 10 is shifted forwards, and at the same time, the sliding grip 60 which is coupled to the rear half of the kettle handle 50 by a slip joint is moved forwards relative to the kettle handle 50, thereby forcing the link 70 to push the handle 41 of the spout cap 40 and to further bias the spout cap 40 relative to the support frame 22 of the spout 20, and therefore the spout cap 40 is turned about the fastening member 45 from the close position to the open position (see FIG. 4), allowing water to flow out of the kettle body 20 through the spout 21 for service.

Further, during downward movement of the link 70, the link 70 imparts a pressure to the bearing arm 83 of the torsion spring 80, thereby causing the torsion spring 80 to be twisted to preserve elastic energy. Therefore, when the kettle 10 is returned from the tilted position to the horizontal position on the desk and the user's hand is released from kettle 10, the torsion spring 80 immediately returns the sliding grip 60, and therefore the spout cap 40 is returned to its former position to close the spout 21.

It is to be known that the tilting angle of the kettle 10 is directly proportional to the opening angle of the spout cap 40, i.e., the greater the tilting angle of the kettle 10 is, the greater the opening extent of the spout cap 40 will be. Of course, the amount of water in the kettle 10 will also affect the timing of the opening action of the spout cap 40, i.e., when a relatively more amount of water is contained in the kettle 10, the spout cap 40 will be opened more quickly; on the contrary, when a less amount of water is contained in the kettle 10, the spout cap 40 will be opened relatively slowly.

Because the spout cap 40 is to be opened only when wishing to pour water out of the kettle 10, the kettle 10 of the present invention enables the spout cap 40 to be automatically opened when the user holds the sliding grip 60 and tilts the kettle 10 to pour water out of the kettle 10. This design of human-factors engineering enables the spout cap 40 to be automatically opened when the user tilts the kettle 10 to pour water out of the kettle 10. Actually, the spout cap 40 will also be automatically opened when the kettle 10 is kept in horizontal on a flat surface and when the user moves the sliding grip 60 forwards. When the user releases the hand from the sliding grip 60, the spout cap 40 will also be automatically returned to close the spout 21.

According to the present invention, the sliding grip 60 that is slidably coupled to the kettle handle 50 and the link 70 that is coupled between the sliding grip 60 and the spout cap 40 constitute a spout cap lifting mechanism. When the kettle 10 is tilted to pour out water, the spout cap 40 will be automatically opened. When the kettle 10 is returned to horizontal, the spout cap 40 is automatically returned to close the spout 21. The closing or opening action of the spout cap 40 is performed automatically without any manual manipulation. Therefore, the kettle 10 has the advantage of ease and safe of use.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A kettle comprising: a kettle body, said kettle body having a spout and a support frame; a spout cap pivoted to said support frame and biasable relative to said support frame to close/open said spout; a kettle handle fixedly fastened to said kettle body; a sliding grip coupled to and movable along said kettle handle; a link movably supported on said kettle handle, said link having a rear end connected to one end of said sliding grip and a front end pivoted to one end of said spout cap; and a spring means installed in said support frame and supported between said support frame and the front end of said link to impart a spring force to said spout cap to hold said spout cap in the position closing said spout.
 2. The kettle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support frame is fixedly mounted on the periphery of said spout at one side.
 3. The kettle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said kettle handle has at least one elongated slot; said sliding grip comprises a bottom grip shell disposed at a bottom side of said kettle handle, a top grip shell disposed at a top side of said kettle handle opposite to said bottom grip shell, and pivot means inserted through said at least one elongated slot of said kettle handle and connected between said top grip shell and said bottom grip shell to secure said top grip shell and said bottom grip shell to said kettle handle and to allow sliding movement of said top grip shell and said bottom grip shell relative to said kettle handle.
 4. The kettle as claimed in claim 3, wherein said top grip shell of said sliding grip has a retaining hole on a front end thereof; said link has a retaining lug extended from the rear end thereof and fastened to the retaining hole of said top grip shell for synchronous movement with said sliding grip.
 5. The kettle as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bottom grip shell has at least one countersunk hole; said top grip shell comprises at least one screw hole corresponding to the at least one countersunk hole of said bottom grip shell; said pivot means comprises at least one screw respectively inserted through said at least one countersunk hole of said bottom grip shell and the at least one elongated slot of said kettle handle and respectively threaded into the at least one screw hole of said top grip shell.
 6. The kettle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support frame has a pivot member mounted therein; the front end of said link is inserted into said support frame and has a through hole coupled to the pivot member in said support frame.
 7. The kettle as claimed in claim 6, wherein said pivot member is a rivet.
 8. The kettle as claimed in claim 1, wherein said support frame has two pivot holes disposed at two opposite lateral sides and aligned in line; said spout cap has a spout cap handle, said spout cap handle having two through holes, and a pivot member inserted through the pivot holes of said support frame and affixed to the two through holes of said spout cap handle to pivotally secure said spout cap handle to said support frame.
 9. The kettle as claimed in claim 8, wherein said pivot member is a rivet.
 10. The kettle as claimed in claim 8, wherein said spring means is a torsion spring, said torsion spring comprising a coiled spring body sleeved onto the pivot member in said spout cap handle of said spout cap, and two bearing arms respectively extended from two opposite ends of said coiled spring body and respectively supported on said support frame and the front end of said link.
 11. The kettle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the pivot member in said spout cap handle of said spout cap is a rivet. 